Circulation Problems: Peripheral Arterial Disease
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) occurs when arteries in the legs are narrowed or blocked by atherosclerosis, decreasing the blood supply to the feet and legs. PAD is a prevalent, chronic disease that affects more than 20 percent of people over 70 years of age in the United States. Mild PAD results in difficulty walking and potential impotence in men. PAD in advanced stages can result in severe pain in the legs at rest, non-healing wounds, and/or gangrene which can lead to leg amputation. People with PAD are three to ten times more likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than normal people. PAD can be detected early through screening and effectively treated thus reducing or eliminating these outcomes. Arterial blockages can also occur in other arteries of the body, including arteries to the arms, kidneys, intestines and brain.
Saphenous Vein Bypass Graft
Saphenous Vein Bypass Graft
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Even though techniques that are presently available are highly successful, new modalities to treat PAD are continually being sought ranging from surgical bypass procedures, endovascular angioplasty and stents, and cutting edge medical therapy. William Pearce, MD, Mark Morasch, MD, Mark Eskandari, MD, Melina Kibbe, MD, Jon Matsumura, MD, and Heron Rodriguez, MD, vascular surgeons in the Center for Vascular Disease, are leading the search to find new and innovative ways to treat these problems.
Stent Placed in Iliac Artery
Stent Placed in Iliac Artery
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The Northwestern Endovascular Service, formulated in 2004, under the direction of Mark Eskandari, MD and Scott Resnick, MD focuses on percutaneous peripheral vascular intervention. Robert Vogelzang, MD, past president of the Society for Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, leads this group. The Center for Vascular Disease performed its first stem cell transplant for the treatment of un-reconstructable lower extremity artery disease in collaboration with Richard Burt, MD of the Division of Immunotherapy. Dr. Melina Kibbe is developing novel treatments to prolong arterial bypass graft patency using nitric oxide-releasing gels and nitric oxide in PTFE grafts.
Contact
For more information regarding circulation problems and the treatments
available through the Center for Vascular Disease, call the Bluhm
Cardiovascular Institute at (866) 662-8467, or request an appointment online.
